Day 125 - Fish Tank

Day 125          Fish Tank [2009]

                          

Screenplay                    Andrea Arnold

Director                         Andrea Arnold

Cinematography            Robbie Ryan

Music                            Steel Pulse

Leads                            Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, Harry Treadaway, Rebecca Griffiths

Production                     BBC Films, UK Film Council, Kasander Film Company, Limelight Communication, ContentFilm

IMDb                                7.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes                91%

Arnold and Ryan have an uncanny knack of making real-world films. The combination of realistic situations, complex characters and handheld camerawork with natural light make for absorbing cinema. You feel like you are part of the story, drawn in by the desperate truthful circumstances of the actors. I think it makes sense to watch Arnold’s progression through film so, if you haven’t seen them yet, watch her Oscar-winning short Wasp before you watch this and then watch the excellent American Honey afterwards. Fish Tank tells the story of 15-year-old Mia (Jarvis) who lives with her single mother, Joanna (Wareing), and her little sister, Tyler (Griffiths), on a council estate in Essex. They have a hostile relationship despite all living under the same small roof, not helped by their mutual love for alcohol. The girls’ belligerent lives are interrupted when Joanna starts seeing a handsome new boyfriend, Connor (Fassbender). The acting in this film is outstanding. Especially from newcomers Katie Jarvis and Rebecca Griffiths. Neither had acted before as Arnold likes to use unknowns, so that the film can be its own little world, without the awareness that movie stars attract. It also means she can mould the performances as she goes, and they are more real; simply because of the inexperience of the actors. Jarvis manages to simultaneously be a cold, disobedient brat and a fragile, caring young girl. She has to endure a brutal relationship with her unloving mother and yet you can tell she looks up to her just by the way she watches her dance. I am in awe of Ryan’s cinematography and if I ever directed a film I would want him at the helm with me, or at the least I would make my DP study his films meticulously. He makes ugly council houses look like Greek sculpture and drab British countryside look like Turner paintings. The film provides an honest snapshot of low-income Britain merely by telling the story of a teenage girl and that’s what makes it so brilliant. This one slides into the Hall of Film without much of a thought.  

Acting                              4 / 4

Writing                          3.5 / 4

Cinematography               4 / 4

Music                               3 / 4

HWF rating                  4 / 4